The Voice of Innkeeping Vol 2 Issue 2 June Summer 2017 | Page 20

1) “I can’t afford to hire a photographer”

Many innkeepers freely spend thousands of dollars on new websites, or on marketing entities like Select Registry or bedandbreakfast.com to drive traffic to their websites, but these investments make no sense if your website features bad photos. We have data supporting massive increases in revenue, based on new photos alone. We believe a decent template website with great photos is more effective than a fabulous custom website with poor photos. As trite as it sounds, you can’t afford NOT to have great photos!

2) “It’s too expensive to re-photograph my entire inn.”

Potential guests make the decision to stay with you based on a few key images—typically the home page images and a room photo or two. If budget is an issue, at least get a few fabulous, dynamic (“I want to stay THERE!”) photos which captivate and motivate the prospective guest.

Photography and Your Inn: 10 Common Misconceptions

STOP! Before you dismiss this as another article written by a photographer, harping on the necessity of professional photography, please consider this: in 1999 we bought an inn with a 28% occupancy. Five years later when we sold that inn, the occupancy was 78%. The turning point in that transition was photography. That is why we started a photography business. We saw the power of photography, first hand—and we’ve continued to see it over the years with our clients.

Despite the widespread belief that photography is one of the most prudent marketing investments you can make, we STILL see very poor photos…every day. (Sadly, they comprise the majority of inn photos.)

But, rather than beat that dead horse, we’d like to discuss the most common misconceptions we hear, relative to photography.

By Jumping Rocks Photography

Matthew Lovette and Mark Smith